Perestroika

Perestroika (Russian: перестройка), which means "restructuring", was a new policy introduced by Mikhail Gorbachev in the Soviet Union to allow the people to own small businesses. Gorbachev tried to transform the stagnant, inefficient command economy into a decentralized, market-oriented economy. Under perestroika, more people were allowed to participate in elections for Communist party bosses, and Communist party industrial managers were granted greater autonomy from Moscow central control.

Coupled with the new policy of glasnost or "openess," people were free to express their dissatisfaction with perestroika and all forms of socialism in favor of a multi-party system and democracy. Perestroika and glasnost together ultimately contributed to the complete collapse of the Soviet Union.